The young MC, Mike Carroll (above), flashed brilliant ollie nose blunt slides on an old computer terminal. Kareem Campbell (top right)
flaunted incredible footwork like this 360° late shove over the volcano. First place wrangler Chet Thomas (right) flashes a winning grimace.
56 THRASHER MAGAZINE
as he flew consistently over the lot.
He was the only one to lien-to-tail
the volcano plateau, add his clas-
sic little-guy power style and the
$500 paycheck was his. Chris
Senn was still reeling from his win
in Houston the week before. He
settled down long enough to blast
big Benihanas and other assorted
madness and collect a third place
check of $250. The Cinderella
story of the weekend was definitely
John Cardiel. He came, he rode,
he got fourth place. He took the
biggest chances and the biggest
slams, but his crazy style and hair-
ball moves had everyone watching
and then turning away. Other con-
test highlights included Sheffey's
monster aerial assaults, Kareem's
frontside 360° late shoves, Agah's
nollie over the bike rack and the
one and only Julien Stranger's
power flight over the whole catwalk
in heavy traffic.
All in all, it was excellent-no
pads, no rules and no cops. Gone
are the days when one lonely
skater roams a field of quarter-
pipes by himself for forty-five
seconds. Gone are the six-hour
qualifying rounds that feature
more yawn than brawn. Gone
are the three-day contest
marathons. Some excerpts from
K.T.'s personal notebook,
"The main thing is that contests
will never be the same as they
were before. The next one will-
be even different than this one.
Next time, we'll get a PA
system and there will definitely
be no wood."
All it takes is a little gumption
and who knows what can
happen. Some skaters cried
and some walked out, but the
contest was all over in two
hours and, hey, skating talks,
bullshit walks.